If the Apple Weather app is correct one week in advance, then today should be a rainy day. As a self-proclaimed optimist, I’m gonna assume that it is. I’ve always loved rainy days — being inside on a rainy day, that is. Back at home, three walls of my room were mostly just windows, so when it rained hard, I felt like I was sitting inside a car in one of those fun drive-through car washes. On days like those, these were some of the songs I liked to listen to:1. “Time In A Bottle” by Jim Croce
2. “A Long Time Ago” by Jim Croce
3. “Morning Crawls Towards You, And I” by Good Luck Finding Iris
4. “Fantasy Theme” by Kevin Krauter
5. “Necromancer” by Joy Again
6. “Pyotr” by Bad Books, Manchester Orchestra, Kevin Devine
7. “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star
8. “Out Like a Light 2” by The Honeysticks
9. “Sleepwalking” by Modest Mouse
10. “Lovers Rock” by TV Girl
11. “Getting It On” by SALES
12. “Still Crazy After All These Years” by Paul Simon
13. “Transatlanticism” by Death Cab for Cutie
14. “Such Great Heights” by Iron & Wine
First things first, Croce is the absolute G.O.A.T. of rainy day music, up there with SALES and Iron & Wine. He had a very short career and only produced three major albums in 1972 and 1973 before he died in a plane crash at the age of 30. However, those three albums are gold mines for soft acoustic tunes, perfect for staring wistfully out a rain-covered window like you’re in a music video. In most songs, his warm voice is accompanied by two guitar lines, played by himself and Maury Muehleisen, which create a very intimate feeling as if you were hearing him up close around a campfire. His lyrics are incredibly sentimental, and coupled with the intricate guitar parts and vocal harmonies, this makes Croce truly one of the great singer-songwriters of the 20th century.
I’ve also got to point out two songs that I honestly think are two of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard, “Morning Crawls Towards You, And I” (2017) and “Fantasy Theme” (2016), both written by fairly unknown artists. They’re both pretty simple songs with maybe one or two instruments, so you can really focus on the singing and lyrics. I find that the music is enhanced by the low-fi acoustic sound, making them sound as if they were recorded in a makeshift studio in someone’s bedroom (which, to be fair, is a characteristic of a fair amount of the music I listen to anyways). “Necromancer” (2017) also has pretty similar vibes, and I’d lump it in the same low-fi acoustic category with those two other songs.
Whether you’re watching the rain come down on the windows in Carm or you’re literally anywhere else, I invite you to play these songs for your enjoyment. And if today isn’t a rainy day, then I really screwed that one up.
Link: https://spoti.fi/2B5tK7I
